“Kipper und Wipper”: Rogue Traders, Rogue Princes, Rogue Bishops and the German Financial Meltdown of 1621–23

Claims Supported by This Source

1. Discussed in comparison with the hyperinflation of 1923, citing Kindleberger 1991 as a primary authority. The sources section lists Coupe 1966, Denzel 2006, Gaettens 1982, Kindleberger 1991, Redlich 1972, Schnabel & Shin 2006.
2. It states, "As in 1923, the severity of the situation was evident from the sight of children playing in the streets with piles of worthless money," but does not cite a source for this scene.
3. The 1559 Imperial Minting Ordinance limited minting to certain princes and mints and stipulated inspection by a Kreiswardein, but it was not strictly enforced. The minting of small coins ceased due to unprofitability, and foreign coins and unauthorized Heckenmünzen (hedge mints) spread. The Kreuzer depreciated by about 20% between 1582 and 1609 (original source not cited).
4. Quoting Kindleberger: Debasement was initially confined to one's own territory, but it was found to be more profitable to take debased coins to a neighboring territory, obtain good coins from the ignorant populace, and bring them back to debase again. The victimized territories began to debase their own currency in self-defense, the number of mints increased, and the debasement accelerated.
5. The etymology is disputed; some authors translate "kippen" as "to clip" or "to tip," and "wippen" as "seesaw" or "to rock." Redlich explains it as the practice of "money changers who kept rocking the scales to confuse onlookers."
6. Leipzig paid the highest price for silver, causing an influx of the metal. The number of mints in Brunswick grew from 17 in 1620 to 40 three years later, with a monastery converted into a mint employing 400 people. Princes, nobles, and merchants rented mints on a weekly basis. Wallenstein made his fortune through a minting consortium in Bohemia, Moravia, and Lower Austria (original source not cited).
7. In the Magdeburg riots of February 1622, 16 people died and 200 were injured, and in Brandenburg, the shops of money changers suspected of dealing in Kippergeld were attacked by mobs (original source not cited).
8. “‘The remaining, insufficient data suggest that in most of Germany between 1620 and 1623, the price of basic foodstuffs increased approximately eightfold.’ ‘It can be calculated that by 1621, the average small coin circulating in the Empire was worth only about one-fifth of its face value.’ — Source not specified (from context, Kindleberger 1991).
9. According to Kindleberger, by 1623 no one would accept Kippergeld, and the great princes of the Empire returned to the terms of the 1559 ordinance, fixing the exchange rate of the Reichsthaler. This rate lasted for about 40 years, but it was not possible to stop inflation during the war for many years.

How to read the verification levels. "Read Through" means the source was read in its entirety. "Bibliography & Abstract Read" means the bibliographic information and abstract were confirmed. "Via Course Material" means the source was referenced through the textbook or course text. The "Text Hash" is the SHA-256 of the main text from the publisher's page, excluding tags and whitespace, used to detect if the source has been modified.